The Kilumi Rain Dance in Modern Kenya - Journal of Pan African ...

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Consistent with Turner’s description, symbols in rain making rituals are representative of an object, person, place, or thing and can be categorized as “dominant symbols” or “instrumental symbols”. 35 The dominant symbols, according to Turner, refer to the value of the ritual or representation of non-empirical beings and powers. 36 The dominant symbol of the rain making ritual is the rolling of the shoulders and head locking movements through gestures of the shoulders and arms. This represents unity and the pouring down of rain. 37 This body movement involves women bending over, locking heads with other dancers, and shaking their shoulders and arms, which, in many ways, mimics the pouring of rain. The head connections are symbolic of the interconnected nature of the environment, community, and the spirits. The locking process is also associated with an increased drum tempo that serves as the peak of this strengthening phase. The dancers and musicians are all in a transcended state, giving them power, and eventually leading to the healing of the community. Judith Hanna attempts to describe this “transcended” state in the following: Intense, vigorous dancing can lead to an altered state of consciousness through brain wave frequency, adrenalin, and blood sugar changes…dance-induced altered states of consciousness may be perceived as numinous…because motion attracts attention and dance is cognitive and multi-sensory, dance has the unique potential of going beyond other arts and audio-visual media in framing, prolonging, or discontinuing communication and in creating moods, and divine manifestations. 38 However, it is the dancers and musicians that best articulate their experience which is more effectively communicated in their expressions. In live observations, the energy reverberates and can be felt in the resonance of the drums. Figure 3.0 captures the dancers locking heads and doing rain falling shoulder movements. 180 The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.4, no.6, September 2011
Figure 3.0 – The “Rain Making Dancers ‘Locking Heads’” 39 This movement is the climax of the dance, a connection with the rain spirit. The arrival of the rain spirit in the ritual is symbolic on several levels: 1) the community can expect rain and fertile crop production; 2) the eventual healing and revitalization of the community which has been afflicted; and 3) the Akamba ritual was successful and the community will be blessed. The absence of the spirit during the ritual means that the Akamba can expect hard times; this usually means the short term and symbolic death of the community. According to Tribhuwan, “As a symbolic instrument, a person may use his body as a means of communication.” 40 The body, through dance, represents structure and balance in the composition and positioning of the participants, and harmony, as depicted with its relationship to the drums, the singing, and unity with the other dancers. “Dance both encodes and decodes myth and ritual.” 41 For example, before and shortly after the presence of the rain spirit, dancers mimic a state of possession that is symbolic of the coming of the spirit and the presence of the spirit. Evan Zuesse, in his study of dance rituals, claims that “…the body gesture becomes a vehicle for conveying and embodying the highest symbolic truths.” 42 Music, song, and movement allow the body, as a symbolic structure, to change and take on different meanings throughout the ritual. 181 The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.4, no.6, September 2011
Page 1 and 2: The Kilumi Rain Dance in Modern Ken
Page 3 and 4: In December 2008, Ukambani, located
Page 5 and 6: Rain Making Beliefs Rain making dan
Page 7 and 8: Summoning the Spirits Based on 2008
Page 9: Figure 2.0 - Dancers Summoning the
Page 13 and 14: The bodies of the dancers become ve
Page 15 and 16: Since 2008, there have been persist
Page 17 and 18: Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba R
Page 19 and 20: Ntarangwi, Mwenda. Gender, Identity
Page 21 and 22: 13 Theodore Jennings, “On Ritual
Page 23: 58 Field analysis, “Purification

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